Hölderlin: The I And Its Ground

10.1163/ej.9789004181861.i-458.27

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Chapter Summary

Johann Christian Friedrich Hölderlin is educated in the same philosophical context as Schelling. Dieter Henrich views Hölderlin's concept as an integration of the theories of Jacobi and Fichte into a Platonian-Kantian foundation. This chapter highlights some specific points of interest for Hölderlin's work. It looks at a letter that Hölderlin writes to Hegel concerning Fichte's absolute I. The possible immanence of Being in the esthetical experience and Hölderlin's views on intellectual intuition will be discussed. Hölderlin believes that Being remains present in the life of conscious beings at least as the urge towards reunification. We seek its primordial unity in love and in close friendships. We also catch occasional glimpses of Being in nature. Another manifestation of Being is beauty: beauty in general but especially the beauty of works of art. The chapter also explains Hölderlin's views on self-conscious I-hood.